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Arsenal celebrated the 17th anniversary of Arsène Wenger’s appointment as manager by taking a giant stride towards the knockout stage of this season’s Champions League.

Their comfortable 2-0 win over Napoli at Emirates Stadium puts them in total control of Group F.

The Premier League leaders were irresistible in the opening 15 minutes. Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey combined wonderfully to set up Mesut Ozil’s first goal for the Club. Then the German set up the Frenchman for No 2.

Arsenal would never quite regain that intensity but they dominated for the rest of the first half and opted for content containment after the restart. They did more than enough to retain the victory.

Wenger’s men have a perfect six points from their opening two games but Dortmund’s comfortable victory over Marseille means last season’s runners-up are hot on their heels.

In their next two games Arsenal visit and then entertain the German side.

They are tough assignments but so far, Wenger’s men and thriving in the so-called Group of Death.

TEAM NEWS

Wenger’s team showed two changes from the one that had secured a ninth straight win at Swansea at the weekend.

Both of these two teams had won on matchday one. Therefore a victory would send them three points clear at the top of Group F and more than halfway to the double figure tally normally required to qualify.

FIRST HALF

Arsenal began at a gallop and were quickly a couple of furlongs ahead.

In the eighth minute, Giroud expertly controlled Bacary Sagna’s ball down the line on his chest. The Frenchman then flicked it on for the overlapping Ramsey down the right.

The Welshman pulled the ball back to the far right of the area where Ozil had found a pocket of space. With expert technique and control, the German allowed the ball to run across his body and generated enough power and pace to beat Pepe Reina.

It terms of teamwork and footwork it was Arsenal’s goal of the season so far.

In the 74th minute, Ozil’s ball was nodded on by Arteta for Laurent Koscielny at the far post. The defender made decent enough contact but Reina saved from point-blank range.

As the clock ticked away, Arsenal only tightened their grip on the game. Once again, the Mertesacker-Koscielny combination had stifled the opposition attack while Szczesny’s handling had been immaculate.

At the death, Giroud threw himself at an opportunity to score a third. But Arsenal had done enough.

This had been a tough assignment but Wenger’s men made it look easy.

Group F

P

W

D

L

F

A

+/-

Pts

Arsenal

2

2

0

0

4

1

3

6

Borussia Dortmund

2

1

0

1

4

2

2

3

Napoli

2

1

0

1

2

3

-1

3

Marseille

2

0

0

2

1

5

-4

0

Arsenal

1

Szczesny

3

Sagna

3

Gibbs

4

Mertesacker

6

Koscielny

20

Flamini

16

Ramsey88

11

OzilGoal!

8

Arteta

7

Rosicky63

12

GiroudGoal!

Substitutes

21

Fabianski

5

Vermaelen

25

Jenkinson

18

Monreal88

44

Gnabry

10

Wilshere63

23

Bendtner

Napoli

25

Reina

33

Albiol83

5

Britos

18

Zuniga

85

Behrami

17

Hamsik

88

Inler

24

Insigne

16

Mesto

7

Callejon77

19

Pandev61

Substitutes

1

Cabral

28

Cannavaro

21

Fernandez83

27

Armero

20

Dzemaili

14

Mertens61

91

Zapata77

Copyright 2015 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the sourceRichard Clarke1 Oct 2013

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